101 Things to Do When it's Too Hot to Do Anything
by Tall on the Inside
Summary: Young Eren, Mikasa and Armin try to find ways to occupy themselves throughout the summer, but struggle to due to the intense heat. (au drabble fic)
1. 1) Refuse to Get Dressed

Armin's grandfather owned a small bookshop on the corner of the high street of the little town that Eren lived in. He was the only person that worked there, and Armin himself was too young to help out, which meant he was often reasonably busy with it's management. Usually, this fact didn't impact Armin at all because he was at school. Eren and his mother would pick him up and walk him to the shop, and he'd sit on a little stool by the window and read for an hour and a bit until the shop closed at five. However, given that it was now summer, and school was over, there was a problem. Seeing as Armin couldn't very well sit in his stool by the window and read all day, Eren's mother had said that, as a favour to his grandfather, they'd look after him over the summer. Eren often wondered why Armin didn't live with his parents, but he never asked.

He thought that this summer would be the most exciting one yet. He'd been told that Armin would be round almost every day, and Mikasa only lived across the road, so she could visit whenever she liked. He had been looking forward to all the fun things the trio would do together, but by the time it had gotten to the first day of the summer holidays, he had decided it was far, far too hot to do anything but lay on his bed in his underwear, no matter how many times his mother told him to get up and get dressed.

He was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling when he heard a light knock on the door, followed by his mother's soft voice. It was muffled by walls and wood, but he was pretty sure she said something like, "You can go on in, it's fine. He's awake."

The door creaked open slightly, and a timid Armin peaked through the crack. "Hiya Eren," he greeted.

"Hi Armin," Eren replied, still looking at the ceiling.

"Can I come in?" Armin's vibrant blond hair had been pulled back into a ponytail to keep the heat off his head and neck. Two stubborn locks framed the sides of his face. Eren had always thought he looked like a girl when he tied his hair back, but a lot of the boys in Armin's class liked to tease him about looking like a girl anyway, so he never said anything.

"Yeah," he answered, "but it's really hot in here."

Armin chuckled. "It's really hot outside too." Eren groaned in response, and the smaller boy opened the door and entered his room. He paused for a moment, then said, "You're not dressed."

"Oh for the love of-" came his mother's voice once again, her head peaking around the doorway, "Eren Jaeger, I told you over an hour ago to put some clothes on! We have company!"

"Armin doesn't mind," Eren was too hot to yell, but normally he would have raised his voice. "He knows it's too hot for trousers today."

"I'm wearing clothes today, Eren," Armin mumbled. "It's bad not to do what your mummy says, so you should, um, get dressed too."

"Thank you, Armin," Eren's mother entered the room and ruffled the smaller boy's hair. "See, Eren? Why can't you take a leaf out of Armin's book and do what you're told?"

Eren groaned once more. His mother folded her arms and tsked. "It's too hot to get dressed," he told her.

"Eren, I'm only going to ask you one more time-"

"It's too hot to get dressed!"

Something in Eren's tone must have alerted her to the fact he meant business, because she just sighed. "I'll leave you boys to play then. Eren, next time I see you, you better be dressed."

The brunette made a slight grunt, but didn't answer, and his mother left the room, true to her word.

"So," Armin said, sitting himself down on the edge of Eren's bed, "what do you want to do?"

"Nothing."

"But-"

"It's too hot to do anything!" Eren whined, sitting up to meet Armin's gaze. His friend sighed, and looked around the room.

"I could read to you?" he suggested finally.

Armin was a much better reader than Eren was, and was the best in his class at things like science and literacy and numeracy and everything except PE. Eren wasn't in Armin's class; he and Mikasa were in the one next door. Armin had always been better at reading though, because he'd been reading with his grandfather for a long time.

Eren liked the sound of Armin's voice, so he pointed to the book he was reading with his father, which was lying on his desk, and told him to go ahead. He drifted in and out of sleep as Armin told him tales of far away worlds and knights who slayed horrific monsters and people who lived in fear of being eaten. He stumbled on quite a few of the words, but Eren didn't mind. His eyelids would close and then drift open to find Armin at a completely different part of the book.

They carried on like this until lunchtime, when Eren's mother came back upstairs with a tray laden with sandwiches and a jug of freshly squeezed orange juice. She wasn't very pleased that Eren hadn't gotten dressed, but she didn't say anything about it and left, rolling her eyes. The doorbell rang while the two were eating, and his mother called up to them, "Boys, Mikasa's here!"

Her footsteps were heavy on the stairs, and it wasn't long until her shadow fell upon the two, who were sat on the floor, eating. Her dark hair hung loose around her face, and she was clad in a pretty shirt and a bright skirt. She said, by way of greeting, "You're not wearing a top."

Eren replied with, "I'm not wearing anything. It's too hot for clothes."

Mikasa nodded, and appeared thoughtful for a moment, before grabbing the bottom of her skirt and pulling it off.

Armin covered his eyes. "What are you doing?!" he asked, panicked.

The girl discarded her skirt, throwing it onto Eren's bed, and sat crossed-legged on the floor with them. "It's too hot for clothes," she told him, before stealing one of Eren's neatly-cut-into-square slices of sandwich, and eating it, despite his loud protest.

* * *

**Author's Note: **This is my summer challenge. I have literally nothing to do all day long, so I sat down and decided I was going to write a drabble fic with one hundred chapters. The snk fandom is always in need of a pick-me-up, so I humbly present to you a collection of short stories about kids being small and having fun in the summer even though it is too hot. They're meant to be about seven, and I set this au in England (since the story actually takes place in Europe plus I'm English so it's easier for me?). The cover is a work-in-progress and will be completed when I next have access to a tablet, and finally, this fic will probably update several times a day since there is only a few weeks between now and September and I want to get this done.

(ps I take prompts so please leave some)


	2. 2) Get What You Want

Eren's mother wasn't pleased, to say the least, when she came upstairs to an Eren who was still in only his boxers and a skirtless Mikasa. Her yelling made it quite clear where Eren got his anger from, and she sent them all outside, after forcing Eren into a pair of shorts and a yellow t-shirt. He whined loudly the entire time. Mikasa and Armin stood in the corridor, the latter wincing at the loud noise while the former remained indifferent.

The Jaeger's back garden wasn't very exciting. A hose lay idly on the patio, a small puddle of water dripping from it's end, and a cobweb-ridden slide lay unused upon grass that was in desperate need of a good cut. Sighing loudly, Eren lay on the grass, and yelled, "It's too hot!"

His words made the neighbour's dog bark. Armin frowned, sat down beside Eren and played with his ponytail. Mikasa remained standing. She said only, "I want lemonade."

"We don't have any lemonade!" Eren yelled, louder this time.

"There's some at my house."

"Yeah well maybe you should go back to your house!"

Mikasa shook her head. "No. I want to play with you two."

"Urgh!" Eren wailed. "I thought you wanted lemonade!"

The girl "hmm"-ed in agreement. "I want to play with you and I want lemonade."

"Why are girls so stupid and confusing?!" Eren rolled over and groaned.

Armin mumbled, "I'd like some lemonade too, if it's okay."

"Yes, Eren," Mikasa sat down, "you should get us some lemonade."

"We don't HAVE any lemonade!" Eren screamed. Next door's dog started barking again.

"Oi!" came Eren's mother's voice from the backdoor. "What's all this yelling about?!"

Eren's voice was strained and whiny. "Mikasa and Armin want lemonade but we don't have any lemonade and I've told them we don't have lemonade but they won't shut up about lemonade!"

His mother chuckled. "Well, why don't you kids come in, and we'll see if we can fix that."

Carla Jaeger was famous around the town because one time she'd bought a carton of juice from the local supermarket and found bits of dead mouse in it. Since that day, she'd bought a juicer and made her own from fruit. The cupboards at Eren's house were always filled with fruit, and that day was no exception. She managed to round up five lemons, all of which were in various states of discolourment, and found a recipe for homemade lemonade. She left the job of slicing the lemons to Eren, the juicing to Mikasa, and trusted Armin to read the recipe out.

"We're going to have a lot of lemonade," he said, looking at the instructions before him.

Eren's mother laughed. "Only two jugs, darling. That's not a lot."

"I think it is." She'd allowed Armin to sit on the counter, something Eren wasn't ever allowed to do. It was making him very angry.

"Hey, Mikasa," he jeered, holding out part of the lemon he'd just halfed, "betcha can't eat this."

The girl paused from her juicing for a moment, and met his gaze. She then took the lemon from him, peeled some of the rind off, and bit into it. Eren's eyes fell wide with shock as she devoured the whole thing, her expression unchangeable. He let out a small whimper before calling, "Mum! Mikasa ate a lemon! Mikasa ate a lemon and she _liked _it!"

"That's nice dear," she dismissed, focusing instead on measuring out the right amount of sugar.

Armin's face brightened. "Mrs Jaeger," he began, a smile tugging at his lips, "could we sell some of the lemonade?"

"Why, of course you can! We'll move a table into the front garden and you can make a sign for it." She laughed softly, and tugged at his hair. "I'm sure you have the best handwriting."

"Muuuum!" Eren cried. "Mikasa's being really weird!"

"Am not! He asked me to eat the peel Mrs Jaeger! I was just doing what I was told!"

Sighing, the woman helped Armin jump down from the counter, before addressing the matter of the taller, bickering kids. She wondered if this lemonade was ever going to get made.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Don't even try to convince me Eren Jaeger wasn't one of those seven year olds who whined about everything and yelled when he was mad because you probably will fail.


	3. 3) Start a Business

Armin's sign wasn't very impressive; his handwriting wasn't quite big enough to fill the paper he had used, and the letters were too close together in some places, so it was rather hard to read, but Carla didn't have the heart to criticise the boy's hard work. Besides, the way he looked at her when she showed her the sign was evidence enough that he knew he'd made a few errors with it. She set up the collapsible table they kept in the garage for when they had barbecues or garden parties and set it up in front of the house. Mikasa threw the tablecloth Carla had asked her to carry over the table, and they straightened it out. Armin then taped his sign to it. Eren brought out a load of plastic cups that had been sitting unused in a cupboard since his sixth birthday, and she then brought out the second jug they had made. It tasted more like lemon juice than lemonade, likely because it wasn't carbonated, but the kids hadn't complained when they drank it, and she hoped someone would be kind enough to buy some.

Eren sat on one of the deck chairs they'd set up, barely high enough to see over the table. "It's too hot," he complained. His mother had shoved a hat onto his head to keep the sun off, and drowned them all in suncream to make sure they stayed safe.

Mikasa stared at the street. "No one will buy anything," she predicted, sitting down on the curb.

"I'm sure that," Armin paused his statement to yawn. "I'm sure if we wait someone will come!"

And eventually they did.

The stand's first customers came in the form of a couple dog walking. The woman "aww"-ed instantly at the stand, and tugged at her partner's arm. They asked for two glasses of lemonade, and Eren poured it for them, his little hands trembling slightly with the weight of the jug. It was when they asked how much it was that the trio realised they had no price. Armin suggested fifty pence, where Eren demanded nothing less than five pounds. Mikasa told them it was free.

Laughing, the woman had handed Mikasa a pound coin and thanked them for their service. The group sat down to establish a going rate, and came to the eventual decision that one cup was thirty pence, two were seventy, and three were a pound. It didn't quite make sense, but they all liked the sound of it, and were soon waiting customers.

Mikasa's father bought two cups when he got home from work, and took the second one home to his wife, who then came out to take a picture of the stand, and buy another cup. Eren's father took one when he came home, but didn't pay. A few other dog walkers stopped to make a purchase, and Eren's neighbour came out to buy three cups with his kids. He also had a brief conversation with Eren's mother, who bought a cup, about how loud her son was.

Their final customer was Armin's grandfather, who arrived sometime after half five to pick him up, and was mildly surprised to hear that the three of them had been sat in the front garden since around three o'clock selling lemonade. He bought two cups, one of which he gave to Armin, and thanked Carla for helping him, who assured him that it was no problem, and that her husband would pick Armin up about nine the next morning.

Armin waved Eren and Mikasa goodbye, and Eren's mother helped them tidy up the stand, before asking Mikasa if he wanted to stay for dinner.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Armin's sign was originally going to feature some spelling mistakes but I asked my eight-year-old sister how she'd spell "Lemonade for Sale" and she spelt it right so I decided to take that out.

/also the entire au might have been created by me saying to caitlin "imagine baby armin with his hair tied back trying to sell lemonade" but you have no proof of that fact


	4. 4) Sleep

The air was thick and humid. Mikasa's mother had shut the window because bugs kept getting in, but now there was no way fro the heat to get out. Her eyelids cried in pain as they were forced open again, but she couldn't sleep. Her back was covered in sweat, her pyjamas were sticking to her skin and no matter how hard she tried to kick her covers off, she was too far tangled in the sheets from all the wriggling she'd done earlier in an attempt to get comfortable.

She made a small whine to convey her distress, then continued clawing at her cover. She couldn't quite untangle herself from it. She rolled over onto her side and muttered angrily to herself, before coming up with the idea of sliding under the cover and worming her way free that way, like a caterpillar in a cocoon. Unfortunately, this plan didn't work, because she was so tightly wound in the sheet she couldn't pull it over her head.

Lying on her back, she decided to resume to her plan of kicking herself free. This entailed flailing her legs up and down continuously until eventually her wrappings loosened. She was then able to pull them off, toss her sheets on the floor, and roll onto her side, where her exhausted eyes were finally able to close and stay closed as she drifted into sleep.

...

"Granddad?"

A slither of light fell onto where Armin's grandfather was sleeping, and whether it was that or his timid words that woke the man up, the small blond boy couldn't tell. Regardless, the man pushed himself up, and mumbled groggily, "What are you doing out of bed?"

Armin didn't want to admit to turning his light back on after his grandfather had turned it off so he could carrying on reading. Instead, he looked down and sad, "There's a spider in my room."

"What?" His grandfather yawned.

"A spider. In my room." The boy clutched his hands together nervously. "Could you get rid of it for me?"

Sighing, his grandfather pushed himself out of bed. "I bet it's just some tiny thing you could have taken care of yourself."

But he was wrong. Upon Armin's wall in all it's eight-legged glory, it's huge black body clear against the white paint, was a spider about the size of his wrist. Armin hid behind his grandfather as he groaned. "I'm impressed, boy," he said, turning towards the bathroom. "That's a decent sized one you've got there."

"Don't kill it!" Armin cried, before running to his bookshelf and grabbing an empty mug. "Use this instead!"

His grandfather rolled his eyes, and climbed up on Armin's bed, his old bones aching slightly as he did, and, after watching it scamper around the room for a while, which caused his grandson to run out of the room squealing, managed to trap it under the glass. He held his hand out, and Armin obediently started looking for something he could slide under the glass.

Eventually, the spider was safely secured in the glass, and Armin refused to go near it. His grandfather opened his window, and slowly shook the spider out onto the drainpipe, before shutting the window tightly, ruffling Armin's hair and telling him to go to sleep.

Of course, Armin merely returned to reading his book, but there was no good in telling his grandfather that.

...

It was too hot to sleep, Eren decided, as he stared at his light. He always slept with it on, even though his parents scolded him for it. His window was wide open, he had already ripped his pajamas off, and was lying on top of his sheets wearing only his underwear. It was still too hot.

He watched a moth circle round his light as he thought about the heat. He didn't remember it being this hot last year, but at least it was the holidays now, and he didn't have to wear his icky school uniform or go to his icky school or listen to anything his teacher said. His teacher was scary.

He fidgeted somewhat, and continued watching the moth. It flew round and round and round and wow moths were really boring and ugly. Why was e wasting his time watching it?

Oh, that's right, he thought bitterly as he rolled onto his stomach. Because he couldn't sleep. Because it was too hot to sleep.

The weather was driving him mad. What he would do for some rain. Maybe he'd get his mum to set the pool up tomorrow. At least then he would be able to sit in some cold water for little bit. Plus it would be fun. Maybe.

He rolled onto his back again, because he couldn't sleep on his stomach. The moth was still there, fluttering aimlessly around the light, as his vision began to blur and his eyelids closed.

* * *

**Author's Note: **You don't even want to know how many large bugs have been in my room over the past few days its not funny


	5. 5) Debate Your Family History

"Did you know that I'm from Germany, because I am," Eren stated proudly, one hand to his heart. "That's why my name is said different."

"You mean that's why it's yay-ger instead of jay-ger?" Armin asked, looking up at the boy who stood before him.

Eren nodded. "Yep. Isn't it cool? I bet none of you have interesting facts like that about yourselves. I have German blood! My great-grandfather was German!"

"My mother is from Japan," Mikasa's tone was dull and unimpressed, "and my father studied in America."

"Yeah, but that's not very far away, is it?" Eren scoffed. "Germany is like, the other side of the world! They don't even speak English!"

Armin fiddled with his shirt. "They don't speak English in Japan, Eren."

"Then why does Mrs Mikasa's mum speak English?" The brunette shook his head at the blond's foolishness.

Eren's logic had Armin stumped. "Because she learnt it," Mikasa stated. "A person can speak more than one language, Eren."

"Well, I'm German and I can't speak German!" Eren protested.

"Maybe it's because you're not actually German," Mikasa suggested, her face a mask.

Sensing a fight, Armin leant back and added, "It's probably because you weren't born in Germany, Eren."

The taller boy nodded, calming down. "Yeah, that's why." He sat himself down on the grass, so the three children were sat in an almost triangle in his back garden. "Where are your parents from, Armin?"

"Oh, uh," Armin rubbed at the back of his neck. His hair hadn't been tied back today, and consequently the back of his head was heating up rather quickly. "Just, um, just England, I think."

"Armin, where are your parents?" Mikasa asked. "I've never seen you with them."

"Oh, well, that's just because they're really important," the volume of his voice dropped, and he beckoned the other two in closer. "They're explorers. Mummy says they go to different countries and help people who are ill and look at famous places but..."

"But what?" Eren asked, his eyes wide and his voice barely a whisper, enthralled in Armin's tale.

The blonde leant out of their triangle for a second, looked briefly to the left, then to the right, then leant in again. "But daddy says they're secret agents who do really important missions and fight bad guys and find treasure and raid tombs."

"Ha!" Eren yelled, jumping up and pointing at his friend. "That's not true! You're lying!"

"Am not!" Armin replied, his eyes wide. "Daddy said so!"

"No he didn't! You're just making it up!"

"I'm not, I'm not!" The boy was horrified. His lips trembled slightly and his eyes welled with tears. "Tell him I'm not Mikasa."

The girl shook back her dark hair, and said only, "It's true, Eren. He's not making it up. I am also a member of the secret group that his parents work for. We kill people."

This finally set Armin off, and he began to cry. "My parents don't kill people!" he wailed, tears streaming down his face. "They don't!"

"But you said-" Eren began, before he was quickly cut off by Armin's loud, high, frantic wailing.

"No I didn't!"

"Yes you did!"

"No I didn't!" Armin screamed, standing up. "Shut up!"

"I will if you admit you're a liar!" Eren said, pushing him.

"I'm not a liar, you are!" Armin flailed his arms around. "It's not fair that I'm a liar! It's not fair that your parents' get to be from Germany and Mikasa's get to be from Japan but mine don't get to be from anywhere because they're never at home!"

It was around this point that Eren's mother realised this wasn't playful yelling, and came outside. She suggested that Mikasa went home for a little bit, and took the distressed Armin inside after sending Eren to the Naughty Step for upsetting him. Eren had defended himself by stating that Armin lied first and therefore should be on the Naughty Step too, but that just made his mother pinch his ear and scold him even more.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I was eating a peach while writing and I got peach juice everywhere and I had to change my shirt but Sara thought I said I had preach juice on my shirt so now she thinks I can turn into a church.


	6. 6) Face the Consequences of Your Actions

"I'm sorry I made you cry, Armin," Eren said, peaking his head around the corner of the living room.

"It's okay," he replied, not looking at Eren. "Your mummy's ringing my grandfather now, so that I can go home."

"No!" Eren yelled. "I don't want you to go home! It's hot and it's boring and I will be very bored if you go home!"

Armin shook his head. "I'm sure you can play with Mikasa."

"Armin!" Eren wailed, drawing out the "i". "Do you want to go home?"

"Not really," Armin answered, "but your mu-"

Eren was out the room in a flash, and soon found himself in kitchen, where his mother was on the phone. "What are you doing?" she asked, angrily. "Did I say you could come off the step?"

"No," her son's voice was low and cautious, "but-"

"No 'but's!" she yelled. "You did something bad and now you're in trouble for it."

"But mu~um," he whined, "me and Armin are friends again and-"

"Eren Jaeger, I'm going to count to three, and if you're not back on that step-"

"But I don't want Armin to go home yet!"

"One."

"Please mum, I promise I'll be good!"

"Two."

"Stop it mum!"

"Three."

"Mum please! I don't want to sit on the step and I don't want Armin to go home!"

Eren ended up back on the step. Armin went home.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I have no idea why I'm writing any of this.


	7. 7) Conquer Your Fears

"Mikasa, stop it!"

"Why?"

"You're getting me wet!"

"You're in a pool. You're meant to get wet."

"Yeah but I don't want you to splash me!"

The girl merely ignored him, and splashed him again. "When's Armin getting here?"

Eren groaned and fell back. Mikasa had invited him round her house that day, because her paddling pool had been set up the previous afternoon, after she'd been sent home from Eren's. "Mum's picking him up soon. I told her to make sure he brings his swimming stuff."

"Good." Mikasa sent another splash in Eren's direction. Eren protested loudly again, before deciding that if he really wanted Mikasa to stop, he had to give her a taste of her own medicine, and sent some water her way. She responded with larger splashes.

The two of them continued their little water fight, hitting the grass the pool had been set up on more than each other, shrieking and laughing so loudly they didn't hear the doorbell ring, and had no idea that it had done so until Mikasa's mother waved at them from the kitchen window, Eren's mother at her side. Eren leapt out of the pool and ran to her, Mikasa following, her pace slower.

"Mum, what are you doing here?!" Eren asked, almost slipping on the tiled floor.

"Mikasa's mother invited me round for a drink, is that not allowed?" his mum replied, eyeing the trial of dirty water he'd left behind him.

"No!" Eren told her sternly. "You're meant to be getting Armin."

She chuckled. "I did get Armin."

"He's in the living room," Mikasa's mother stated, taking two glasses from the highest shelf in the cupboard she had reached into. "Dry yourselves off before going in."

Mikasa nodded, and Eren grunted, which earned him a dirty look from his mother. Regardless, the two grabbed the towels they'd dumped on Mikasa's table, and dried themselves off slightly, before hurrying into the other room.

"Armin!" Eren yelled. "We're swimming today! Are you ready?"

"Oh, uh," Armin jumped a little when Eren called out, "not really. I don't want to go swimming. I'll just stay here."

Mikasa shook her head. "Armin, that's not allowed."

His pale eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "It's not?"

"No." Mikasa's tone was commanding. "Now, go get changed."

"But, uh," Armin looked down.

"No buts. Get changed." Eren wanted to laugh at how strict and motherly Mikasa sounded, but he didn't, because he was worried Armin would think he was laughing at him and get upset. He didn't want to upset Armin again, not after how much trouble he'd gotten in for doing it yesterday. "We'll meet you outside."

The two already kitted out for swimming turned and left the room, hurrying back to the pool. The water barely came up past their knees, but when they sat down, it felt a lot deeper. They decided not to splash each other until Armin joined them, because otherwise the water level would drop even further. The heat was dropping somewhat, but it was still reasonably warm, and the two were thankful for the water. They though Armin would be too, but soon found that theory disproved.

"Armin, what are you wearing armbands for?" Eren laughed. "They're for babies!"

The blond just stared at the ground. "I can't swim," he mumbled.

"You don't need to swim! It's not deep!"

"Yeah, but I'm littler than you, so there's more water!"

"Are you going to come and play or not?" Mikasa asked, staring at him. He shivered slightly before nodding.

Almost the second he stepped into the pool he was bombarded with splashes to his face. He shrieked loudly, and attempted to shield himself, but slipped instead, landing sharply on his backside. His expression was one of utter horror.

"Armin, are you okay?" Eren asked, instantly stopping his splashing. Armin nodded, his face pale and his eyes wide.

"He's just scared of the water," Mikasa decided, sitting down, "aren't you Armin?"

"Not really," Armin's voice was light, "I just don't want to drown."

Eren was about to say that Armin didn't need to be scared, because he wouldn't drown, when Mikasa pounced and pulled him further under the water. He struggled and flailed against her grip for a while, but ended up completely submerged for at least a second. Then he was back up again, coughing and spluttering and crying.

"There." Mikasa folded her arms.

"There?!" Eren asked, panicked and confused.

Mikasa rolled her eyes. "Armin, are you dead?"

The boy shook his head, but didn't answer due to the fact he was still coughing.

Smiling, Mikasa said, "Then there's no need to be scared of drowning, is there?"

* * *

**Author's Note: **fun fact: half of the things that have happened to armin so far in this fic happened to me at least a billionn times during my childhood basicaly what im trying to say is that i am armin and its not fun.


	8. 8) Stay Up All Night

Eren slept with the light on. Armin slept with the light off. Armin also stayed up past his bedtime reading, and so would have to turn his light back on even after it had been turned off, so the differences in their sleeping habits didn't clash too badly. Not that either of them planned on sleeping that night. Armin's grandfather had said that, to thank the Jaegers for looking after Armin that week, he'd take care of Eren over the weekend, and he was stopping the night.

Armin's floor was hard, and hurt to sit on, but with a sleeping bag and a few pillows, it was a little better. Eren was too excited about sleeping round Armin's to really care about how hard the floor was. They'd played together and his grandfather had made dinner and it had been a really fun day. His father had said he'd thought the two would be sick of each other by now, but Eren didn't think he'd ever get sick of Armin or Mikasa.

After his grandfather had sent the two of them to bed, Armin had shown Eren his favourite book. He said it was a collection of myths and legends from all around the world, and that it had been his mother's when she was his age. It was old, and big, and hardbacked. The pages were stiff with age, but not yellow, the words still easy to read and the pictures still breathtaking. Armin had pointed to his favourite stories and whispered them to Eren, trying to make sure his grandfather couldn't hear him. He'd told him about the country it was from, and whether his parents had visited it, and what it was like. He smiled and laughed and they talked about all the amazing places in the world, and how they'd visit them one day.

"We'll be just like your parents," Eren decided. "We won't live anywhere, we'll just run around the world."

Armin laughed. "My parents live here, sometimes. They just want to live everywhere before they come back."

"When are they coming back?" Eren asked quietly.

"I don't know," Armin didn't sound sad about it. He turned the page in his book and wrinkled his nose in displeasure as his least favourite story presented itself. "Sometimes they come back for Christmas and stuff, but daddy says they just go "where the wind takes them". Oh! I have some postcards from places they've been, if you want to see them!"

Eren had, of course, wanted to see them. Armin had kept them all safe, tucked away in his slightly-too-neat bedroom. They were still as glossy as the day they'd been sent. Armin read the backs of some of them to Eren, and Eren got to experience the thrill of Armin's parents' adventures for himself.

"I've decided," he said finally, "we are definitely gonna be like your parents when we're older."

Armin tilted his head. "Can Mikasa come too?"

"Um, maybe. It depends. You know how weird girls can be sometimes."

The two resolved to stay up all night making plans for their adventure, and Armin's grandfather found them both slumped over that old book of legends in the morning, their beds unslept in.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I stayed up all night to get this done wow. I worked out that if I write about ten of these a week I should be able to get all 101 done by September urgh why am I doing this? In hindsight a fic like this was a really bad idea but at the same time I know I'm going to feel as accomplished as hell when it's done.

only two more fics for this week and they take all of thirty-forty minutes to write if I concentrate so those should be done tomorrow but right now I'm going to sleep


	9. 9) Hide

Mikasa didn't know what number Eren had counted to. She'd told him to count to twenty, but he always cheated at games like this because he was a sore loser. She'd pushed herself as far under her bed as she could, and pressed herself against the wall. She put her hand over her mouth so he couldn't hear her breathing, and lay still.

"Ready or not, here I come!" he yelled, before his thundering footsteps shook the staircase. Maybe he hadn't cheated this time.

She heard the distinctive creak of her bathroom door, and closed her eyes. There were only so many hiding places in her house, and he was bound to find her soon, especially seen as her mother had said the pair of them couldn't play in the spare room, or her parents bedroom.

Eren groaned, and Mikasa held back a giggle. He must have expected to find her in there.

The floorboards in the hallway creaked. Mikasa tensed. Her door swung upon, and Eren's feet were very clearly visible from her position on the floor. She closed her eyes.

Bang! Her wardrobe must have been ripped open. She heard fabric on fabric, plastic coat hangers clashing on a metal rail as Eren pulled her clothes apart looking for her. His movements sounded fast and frantic. Mikasa suddenly remembered how much he hated this game.

She could hear him routing through her drawers, though why would she be in them? That was stupid. The covers were torn from her bed, and discarded on the floor.

"Found you!" Eren shouted suddenly. The noise made Mikasa's eyelids shoot open, and she found herself meeting Eren's gaze. He had shoved his head under the bed, beaming. "My turn to hide now!"

But Eren wasn't very good at hide-and-seek. She found him first in the bathroom, then in the airing cupboard, then in the bathroom again/

"Whatever," he scoffed, when she pointed out his lack of talent. "It's a stupid game anyway."

* * *

**Author's Note: **I did proper calculations and I actually need to write about two of these a day to reach my target by September 1st, but I've decided if I work hard now, I might be able to get the remaining five I need to have finished by this week done.

Also thank you for reviewing and following it means a lot. This is more something I'm writing for personal satisfaction but it still means a lot that people are reading it.


	10. 10) Save the World

"Alright, so, we understand that if the aliens get to the place, the world will end, right?"

"Yes, we do, Eren. You've said it a lot."

"Mikasa! I'm not Eren! I'm Captain Smith!"

Mikasa rolled her eyes. "Yes, Captain Smith. You've said it a lot."

"Um," Armin raised his hand, "who am I again, Eren?"

"You're Doctor Jones. Mikasa is Special Agent Tennis."

"Tennis is a weird name though. Would a Special Agent really be called that?"

"Armin is a weird name, but that's what you're called," Eren jeered. "Anyway, like I said, we have to protect the place from the aliens. Now, Doctor Jones, did you make the bomb like I asked you to?"

Standing up, Mikasa said suddenly, "Captain, there's something I need to say. I have been on the side of the aliens all along."

Armin squealed. "Traitor! Captain we have to get rid of her before she lets the aliens in."

Mikasa rested her hand on Armin's shoulder. "The aliens are already in, Doctor. I am an alien."

The girl let out an unholy scream before slumping forwards. Armin threw himself backwards and clung to Eren. "Wh-What do we d-d-do, Captain?" he stammered.

Eren shrugged Armin off of his shoulder. "We don't do anything. I will kill the alien. You work on the bomb."

Armin nodded, and ran over to the swing in the furthest corner of the park, which was, for the moment, Doctor Jones' lab. Eren crouched down and picked up the stick he had claimed some ten minutes previously as his gun.

"Agent Tennis, if you're still in there, let me know," he said, raising his stick and pointing it towards Mikasa, who suddenly lunged at him, making terrible wailing noises as she did, and slashing at him. Eren made some gunlike noises with his mouth, before yelling, "Doctor! Guns don't work on these things! I need something stronger!"

Armin came running forwards almost instantly, his hands full of leaves. "Here!" he cried. "It's the bomb! It should kill all the aliens but not people because of uh, some science that I did!"

Eren nodded, took the leaves from Armin, and threw them on to the ground, before yelling, "Bang!"

Mikasa kept running towards him, slashing.

"Mikasa," Eren whispered, "you're meant to be dead!"

"But I'm half-alien, half-human," she answered, stopping her walking. "Only half of me is dead."

Armin's eyes grew wide, and he snatched Eren's stick from his hands.

"Armin, what are you doing?" Eren asked. "Give me my gun back!"

The boy didn't listen. He raised the stick to his eyes, as if taking aim, then said, "Phchoo."

Mikasa staggered backwards. Armin continued pretending to shoot. Turning to Eren, Mikasa whispered, "Armin is killing the human part of me."

Eren nodded, and watched until Mikasa finally toppled over. Armin threw the gun away. "It's done, Captain," he said, solemnly. "The world has been saved."

* * *

**Author's Note: **I was eating cherries and I lost one in my skirt while I was writing this.


	11. 11) Catch Your Prey (and Eat It)

Mikasa was still lying on the ground when they heard it, a high, familiar tune. All three of them were bolt upright, still, glancing at each other, almost as if they were making sure that all three of them were hearing the same noise.

"Is that- Is that the ice cream van?" Armin asked, finally, breaking the silence.

Mikasa scrambled to her feet and she and Eren were running within seconds of Armin's question. They were a lot faster then Armin was, so when the boy tried to follow he didn't quite catch up.

The park that they had been playing was at the end of Eren and Mikasa's street, so it took them seconds to return to their homes. Armin assumed they were asking for money, but didn't want to go into either house uninvited, and so sat down on the curb outside Eren's house and waited until the front door slammed closed with a bang.

"Armin Armin Armin!" Eren cried. "We have to be quick!" With his free hand, he grabbed Armin's wrist and started pulling his along. His other was clenched tightly, and Armin could hear coins jangle inside it as the ran. Eren's grip was tight, and hurt a little, so Armin tried to pull his wrist away, but Eren just ended up dragging him along by his hand instead. The blond thought that this was preferable, as it didn't hurt.

Mikasa was with them in mere moments; she was the fastest runner in their school, after all. One of her hands was, like Eren's, clenched tightly in a fist. She had also obtained money. "Hurry up," she said, overtaking them, "he'll be leaving soon!"

Armin worried for a moment he was slowing Eren down, but they finally made it to the end of the street, and there it was. The ice cream van, in all it's glory. There was a small queue, which the trio joined the back of, and waited patiently.

"My mum gave me enough to buy you one too," Eren explained, as they advanced, "so you can choose whatever you like."

"You don't have to get me anything," Armin protested, but Mikasa jabbed him in the back.

"What do you want?" she asked, sternly.

"Um, you can just get me anything, I really don't mind," Armin said quickly. Mikasa seemed to prefer this choice.

A few minutes later, the three of them began making their way back to the park, Armin and Eren with ice cream cones, and Mikasa with some frozen juice lollipop thing. They were quiet, all too intent on eating to attempt conversation.

That is, until Eren said ominously, "Armin, next time we play, let me save the world."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Caitlin don't even pretend there is eremin in this chapter they're excited seven year olds they're allowed to hold hands beside I have seen your brother do things that are like three times more gay than grab his friends hand and your brother is nine


	12. 12) Learn a New Skill

"My grandfather'll be here soon!" Armin said happily, his gaze glued to Eren's window. Eren didn't see what was great about Armin's grandfather being there soon, because all it meant was that Armin would go home. He kicked his legs around aimlessly, hitting the sofa he was sat in, and grunted in reply.

Almost as though he could sense something was wrong, Armin turned towards Eren and opened his mouth. However, his words never came out, and his blue gaze tumbled downwards towards Eren's dirty trainers as they hit the bottom of the sofa over and over again.

"Your shoelaces are untied," he mumbled.

Eren looked down. "Oh. They are."

"You should probably tie them," Armin's gaze met Eren's.

"Can't."

"Can't what?"

"Tie shoelaces."

"You can't tie shoelaces?" Armin chuckled. "But it's easy!"

Huffing, Eren folded his arms, and looked away. "Not for me."

"Well, why do you wear laces if you can't tie them?" Armin asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Because they look cool." Eren shrugged. Armin was annoying him now. Where was his grandfather? It was time for Annoying Armin to go home and tomorrow Fun Armin could come round and they could play games and have fun and not talk about his shoelaces.

His eyes wide, Armin asked, "Would you like me to teach you how to tie you shoelaces?"

Eren wanted to say no, but he was fairly sure that would upset Armin, because Armin loved teaching people things. He groaned. Armin took it as a yes, and immediately knelt down.

"Okay, so, what you do," he said, grabbing the mud-stained laces, "is make two loops like this, see? And then you put the loops together like a heart, and then you pull this one under the other one and ta-da! They're tied!" The blond beamed up at him.

"Uh," Eren looked down in confusion, "could you do that again, please?"

So Armin did it again. And again. And again and again and eventually Eren did it too.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I forgot how to tie shoelaces while I was writing this. Also I really want to write an snk-pacific rim crossover, but between this, Shingeki no Pizza Hut, Observations, and the two other fics I have on the go that haven't been updated since before my hiatus, that will probably never happen.

im trying to do each fic from a different characters point of view? next time itll be mikasa's, and some other familiar faces might start cropping up. 10th of the way there. We can do this.


	13. 13) Start a Summer Romance

Mikasa's mother had took her into town that day, and dragged her through the small, local businesses. To reward her for her good behaviour during their shopping trip, she'd taken Mikasa to the park in the town centre. Mikasa didn't really want to go, but she felt that at least five minutes wouldn't hurt, even if she was alone. Her mother found herself chatting to one of the other mums she knew from school, and Mikasa wandered into the park, kicking the ground slightly as she did. She found herself a bench and sat on it, thinking. She stared aimlessly onwards, listening to the kids around her play and scream, until she was rudely brought out of her thoughts.

"Hi Mikasa!"

"Hmm?" The girl looked down. "Oh, hi Sasha."

The brunette waved happily at her. "What are you doing here? Oh! Do you want to play with us?"

"Us?" Mikasa asked.

Sasha didn't give her an answer, but turned round and yelled, "Hey, Connie, Mikasa's gonna play with us!" to a boy in the distance. The boy then turned and yelled, of his own accord, "Marco! Mikasa's here! She's gonna play with us!" to a taller boy with dark hair. He then turned to yet another boy and cried, "Jean! Guess who's here?"

He received the reply of, "If it's my mum, I'm not going home!"

"It's not your mum," Marco laughed, "it's Mikasa! She's gonna play with us!"

Within moments, a small group of children Mikasa knew from school were around her. It looked like she wouldn't get to sit and think, like she wanted.

"Are you really going to play with us, Mikasa?" Jean asked.

"Where's Eren, doesn't he go everywhere with you?" Marco added.

"Do you have any food?" chirped Sasha. Connie didn't ask anything, but that was probably because he was staring at his shoes in bewilderment.

Mikasa sighed. "What are you playing?"

"It!" Marco beamed up at her.

"We'll change it if you don't want to play it!" Jean pushed Marco out of the way to get closer to Mikasa.

She shrugged. "I'll play." She was good at "It". After all, she was the fastest.

The game lasted for at least ten minutes before it became apparent that Mikasa was too fast to be caught, and would therefore never be up. The kids decided to make the bench a base, meaning they couldn't be caught if they were sat there, and, even though she didn't have to worry about being caught, Mikasa found herself gravitating towards it.

"Uh, Mikasa?"

Someone was at the bench waiting for her.

"Yes, Jean?" she asked, irritably.

"I, uh," the boy looked down, "I just wanted to say you look really pretty today."

"Oh." Mikasa didn't know what to say. She didn't get called pretty a lot by other kids. Not even Eren called her pretty.

"Yeah. I, um, picked this for you."

The boy thrust out a clenched fist. Inside it rested a slightly damaged flower. Mikasa smiled and took it from him. "Thank you."

Jean blushed. "I thought you could put it in your hair. You have really pretty hair."

Mikasa was about to ask him if he really thought so when Sasha took advantage of their conversation and pounced. "IT!" she yelled, slapping Mikasa square in the back. Of course, Mikasa wasn't up for long, but the point was Sasha had managed to catch her, which had been deemed impossible until then.

When they left, Mikasa's mum took her hand. "Did you have a nice time?"

"Hmm."

"Did you have fun playing with your friends? Gosh, wasn't it lucky that they were at the park the same time we were."

"Yes."

"Did one of your friends give you that flower?"

"Mm."

"It's very pretty."

"Thank you. I'm going to show it to Eren when we get back."

Her mother laughed. "Did another boy give it to you, Mikasa?"

"Yes. Jean did."

"Well," her mother's voice was light, "I think it's best we don't tell Eren you got it. He might get jealous."

Mikasa was left pondering what there was to be jealous of, while her mother was already trying to work out how to explain to her husband that their daughter already had an admirer.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I'm falling behind with this fic already. It's because of dangan mafia.  
Speaking of, the SA paywall went up again today. It hasn't even been down a month.  
Too much dialogue. I can't.  
Gonna try and write a bunch of these tomorrow wish me luck. We'll probably see Jean and the gang again around chapter 26. Reckon I can get to that chapter by the end of this week? Let's find out.


	14. 14) Build a Fort

"E-Eren, are you sure we should be doing this?" Armin asked timidly, lingering in the doorway to Eren's living room.

"Of course!" came Eren's voice, sure and certain, as the boy himself attempted to pull his sofa away from the wall and into the centre of the room.

"But your mummy said not to make a mess..." His friend still wasn't convinced.

"We're not making a mess, Armin, we're making a fort! They're very different things!"

Armin wasn't convinced the two were very different things, especially considering the fact that Eren was pulling cushions from the sofa and throwing them on the floor. He fidgeted in the doorway for a few moments longer, before Eren snapped, "Are you gonna help or what?"

"I still don't think it's a good idea," Armin admitted quietly. Eren sighed and rolled his eyes, something he was always getting into trouble for doing. He inhaled deeply, then raised his voice in a yell which made his friend jump slightly.

"MUM!" he called. "ME AND ARMIN ARE MAKING A FORT IN THE LIVING ROOM!"

A muffled, "That's nice dear. Be careful," came back to them, and Eren made his best "I-told-you-so" face at Armin, which was strange, since Armin tended to be the one who was right most of the time. However, even though Eren had proved to him they had every right to build a fort, the boy still hesitated.

"If you're not going to help, you won't be able to come in," Eren warned him.

"I'll help!" Armin promised, not one for being left out of anything, even if he didn't really want to join in. "What do you want me to do?"

Eren looked around the room for a while, scratching the back of his neck. "You could go get all the bedding from my room and bringing it down here. My pillows and quilt and everything."

Armin nodded quickly before scurrying upstairs. Eren could hear his footsteps, lighter than his and Mikasa's, but still a heavy thud from above. It wasn't long before the blond was back, his arms full with various items he'd rescued from Eren's bed.

The initial plan Eren had made was to push the two sofas in his living room together in an "L" shape, and then drape his duvet across, but it wasn't anywhere near long enough. Armin suggested that they pushed the two sofas together instead, so hey were next to each other, effectively becoming one giant sofa. After some debate, the two decided this plan was a good one, and tried their best to follow it. However, the sofas proved to be far too much of a challenge for them, and Eren ended up asking his mother for help moving them.

The boys shoved a closed umbrella in the crack between the two sofas, in order to keep the duvet up when they threw it over the top. They filled the crack with pillows before tossing the duvet over their heads. A few stray pillows and a blanket that was never used lay discarded on the sofa. Eren flicked on the torch he'd asked his mother if he could borrow, and said, "Our fort needs a name."

"A name?" Armin repeated. "What sort of name?"

Eren shrugged. "I dunno. I'll think of one in a bit."

Armin nodded. "Is Mikasa coming round today? Maybe she could help us name it!"

"No," Eren stated blankly. "No girls are allowed in our fort. Wanna make a flag?"

Armin's eyebrows creased. "We... We don't even have a name yet."

"Maria." Eren snapped the first name that came to mind. It seemed to amused Armin, and his lips curled upwards.

"So no girls are allowed in the fort, but the fort has a girl's name?" he chuckled.

"Yes," Armin was making Eren feel like an idiot. Eren didn't like feeling like an idiot. "Are we gonna make a flag or not?"

They set up a fan just outside Fort Maria, because lying under a duvet in the middle of summer isn't the best idea when it's actually hot for once. Eren's mother didn't really want them drawing in the fort, but she couldn't stop them. Eren worked diligently, breaking out his finest pencils. He wanted to outshine Armin for once. Armin always did the best drawing and the best writing but this time, this time, it would be Eren's flag that flew outside Fort Maria.

And, in the end, it was Eren's flag that they stuck to his duvet. Late nights up reading and a comfy fort made from blankets and pillows caught up with Armin, and he fell asleep before he could finish his own design.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I AM SO BEHIND IM SO MAD ITS BECAUSE OF SNK MAFIA GODDAMMIT  
i am literally going to be writing all of tomorrow jfc because i dont feel like writing anymore its nearly midnight  
thank you for your support im gonna overcome my addiction with snk mafia and focus on getting this story done woot


	15. 15) Watch the World come Crashing Down

Mikasa wasn't fond of Fort Maria's "No Girls Allowed" policy. "Eren!" she wailed. "Let me in!"

"No!" he called back to her. "You're a girl and you didn't help build it! Now be quiet, Armin's sleeping!"

"That's not fair!" she cried, her voice getting louder and more distressed. "I want to play with you too!"

"We're not playing, Mikasa! Armin is sleeping and I'm guarding the fort to make sure that no girls like you come in!"

"At least come out and talk to me, face to face!" Mikasa demanded. Eren complied, rolling out of the fort and jumping down the sofa to meet her/

"You still can't come in," Eren told her, his fists clenched.

She stared at him, blinking a few times."I'm gonna tell your mum!" she claimed.

"Fine!" Eren snapped. "I don't care! Tell her whatever you want! You can't come in and you can't play with us when Armin wakes up because you're a stupid girl!"

Mikasa's lips began to tremble. "I'm not a stupid girl!" she told him. "Jean thinks I'm pretty!"

"Yeah, well Jean is a stupid poophead!" Eren told it like it was. His words rang with truth.

His hair in disarray and his eyes glazed with sleep, Armin emerged from Fort Maria, confused. "Oh, hi Mikasa," he said. "Are you here to see our fort?!"

"Armin!" Eren turned around, and fixed his glare on the blond instead. "I told you, it's no girls allowed!"

"Oh yeah," Armin frowned slightly. "Sorry Mikasa."

"Eren!" Mikasa whinned. "Armin wants me to play! Why don't you?!"

"Because no girls are allowed!" Eren yelled. "That's the end of this discussion! Armin let's go inside!"

Armin offered Mikasa an apologetic smile before disappearing under the blankets again. Mikasa stomped her feet angrily, a plan starting to form. She sat down on the living room floor, listening to Eren chatter idly about how Armin wasn't allowed to go to sleep again, and Armin apologise for it, biding her time, until, finally, she let out the most terrifying roar she could muster, before crying, "FORT MARIA IS UNDER ATTACK!" and grabbing at the duvet, pulling it off.

Eren made a series of distressed shrieks, and his mother came in to find the living room a jungle of sheets and pillows. Armin and Mikasa seemed to be laughing while battling with cushions upon the remains of the fort, while Eren yelled, his lip shaking violently.

"Mum!" he cried, his eyes watering. "Mikasa destroyed our fort!"

Looking over the scattered remains of the fort, his mother said only, "Well, she can help you clean it up then."

* * *

**Author's Note: **I am listening to the rwby soundtrack right now wow I can't get enough of it it's just too good.  
urge to write eremin is rising uncontrollably.  
friendly reminder that I take prompts and would be more than happy if you left some.


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